Rep. Gabrielle Giffords sent this photo by Twitter Wednesday morning to show she's reading the latest health care reform bill.
One of the most stinging comments about Congress this summer during the health care town halls and TEA parties was Democrats were pushing major bills so fast that lawmakers couldn’t possibly read and understand what was in them before voting. One group even launched a campaign to get written pledges from individual lawmakers that they would read any health care reform legislation before voting “yes” or “no.” In turn, enough pledges would force the Senate and House to prepare written versions of such bills a few days before any votes so the public could digest them as well.
But exactly how do members of Congress “prove” they have read a bill? Issuing news releases would be a written form of saying, “I did my homework,” and wouldn’t convince the skeptical.
So some members of Arizona’s congressional delegation have turned to social media such as Twitter to show what they are learning in real time. Republican Rep. John Shadegg started the trend on Oct. 29 when he sent out the following tweet at 2:51 p.m.:
“Pg. 140 of the #healthbill extends immunity to ERISA insurers when they wrongfully deny coverage http://tinyurl.com/yzaqnac”
Several others joined in Tuesday. GOP Rep. Jeff Flake shared his first thoughts at 1:30 p.m.:
“Sitting around a table with my Republican colleagues, reading the massive Pelosi healthcare bill. Haven’t found anything good in it yet.”
Rep. Trent Franks piled on about 2.5 hours later:
“H.R. 3962 essentially does away with private insurance http://amplify.com/u/sqv via @RepTrentFranks #tcot #handsoff #hcr #gop”
A couple of Democrats have spoken up as well. Rep. Harry Mitchell pointed to a couple of highlights at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday:
“Reading HC Bill – Some items of note: Sen McCain idea - high risk pool pg 16; Insurance can’t drop people w preexisting conditions pg 95″
Then today, Mitchell sent back-to-back tweets at 9:30 a.m.:
“More notes from reading the bill Section 309 PG 202 - Insurance Across State Lines”
“Other sections to look at carefully Public Option Negotiated Rates: Sec 323 PG 216 & Small Business Exemption up to $500,000: Sec 413 PG 276″
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords decided to go the route of “a picture is worth a thousand words,” with the above photo of her with bill in hand. Not to be outdone, Republican Rep. Trent Franks went with this tweet:
“@RepShimkus RT Side by side, the Pelosi Health Care Bill and the GOP Alternative: http://twitpic.com/o8zuh More freedom or more government?”
Here’s the photo that the tweet points to:
So, are you convinced these people will know what they are voting on?
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